The Liberation of Tamriel
by ShadowSlayerD
Summary: Set after Skyrim, with the Stormcloaks winning the war. A rebellion is breaking out to bring the Empire back to how it used to be. Lots of boat stuff. Not the best at summaries. Rating for some language, but not much.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone, this is my first story, so any feedback is helpful. I'm hoping to upload my drawings of these characters soon. Also, the names after the locations show the point of view._

Windhelm

Lydia

Lydia looked up at the city that stood before her. She had been to Windhelm before, but something was different this time. For one two large warships were next to her on the docks, both being loaded with arms and soldiers. Second, she was alone, no Dovahkiin standing next to her. Tyr was never in Whiterun anymore, this would be the first time she would see him in ages. She heard the Jarl call to her, and began to trudge up the stairs to the city.

The war on Cyrodil had been thought up by the Stormcloaks ever since they retook Skyrim, and once they told the rest of the holds, Whiterun was first to answer. Vignar came to Windhelm with soldiers to aid in Ulfric's efforts, as he was a huge supporter. Lydia agreed to help, because of her want to get out of Whiterun.

Once inside, she noticed more and more changes as she walked. Soldiers walked in larger numbers, people who looked to be bandits or adventurers wandered about the town, and shopkeepers were using supplies for the war efforts. Once up to the palace doors, she was told to wait at the entrance as the Jarl went inside the large hall.

"So, another dignitary enters the hall." She turned to the speaker. A Khajit, giving her a grin, stood up. "The jarl gathers troops for his great war. Even calling on people like us to aid him." Lydia took a step back, when a Nord intervened.

"Quiet, Shajirr. We are not here to talk to every person who walks up to the palace, we wait for the captain, and that is all," he sternly put in.

"So I take it those boats in the harbor are yours?" Lydia inquired.

"Ah, so you saw them?" the khajit, Shajirr, pushed past the big man. "Yes, those are The Red Diamond and The Warhammer, two of our best boats. If you are lucky, you'll be stationed on them." By then, the doors had opened, and five people walked out. Lydia recognized Vilkas of the Companions, Vignar, Jarl of Whiterun, Ulfric Stormcloak, and Tyr, the Dragonborn. The fifth was a stranger to her, but by the way the two others snapped to attention, this was the "Captain". He had a coat, the kind that sailors from Cyrodil wear, rather nice clothing underneath that, leather greaves and dark boots. A crossbow was slung over his back, and she could see a decorative sword under the coat. He looked about the age of her and Vilkas, younger than the two people who reported to him. He nodded to the two others and they walked to his sides.

"So you will help us?" Ulfric asked.

"Yes," the "Captain" said, "it is our obligation to aid in the liberation of the Empire. We will stand by you, and our Navy will be open to your use." He walked down towards the docks.

"Pirates? You call upon pirates, Ulfric?" Vignar gave the High King a stern look.

"They are the best naval fighters in the Empire, besides the legion. Besides, our Nordic boats can't do much out in the open seas, what cannons we have aren't strong enough." Lydia couldn't help but agree their boats were for transport, not fighting. When Vignar walked off, she followed, Vilkas next to her. Tyr had been quiet, and had ignored his old housecarl, making her feel a bit discouraged. With a sigh, she went into Candlehearth hall, where she would be staying, ate, and then slept.

Ralof

While most of the army slept, Ralof was getting promoted to Lieutenant by Galmar Stonefist. He got his armor and a new axe, and smiled. Going into a war with the command over a group of twenty to fifty soldiers was a boost to his courage. Before this, he would be going into battle with five or so men, and no real support. He had been scared that his group would be killed, himself included. He walked outside to the cold Windhelm night.

"Good job being promoted." Ralof turned towards the speaker with a grin. Tyr was smiling, and he held out his hand. Ralof shook it and laughed a bit.

"Makes me feel better that I'm not just some infantryman now. I am important," he turned back to the courtyard, looking at the few night guards they had.

"You ever been to Cyrodil?" Tyr asked.

"No, but I heard that it was a lot warmer. That might be nice for a change."

"It's mostly forests, according to Esbern. Although we won't be enjoying the weather."

"Stonefist says that the Imperials number at least over two or three thousand. We only have about five hundred."

"It won't be easy, but we'll win. Go get some rest. And congratulations again." Tyr walked off, and Ralof smiled. He went to the barracks and went to sleep instantly.

"

_So this first bit isn't very good, but I kinda want to get to the boats. I like boats. And a bunch of this story is in, you guessed it, boats. The next bit will be better, I promise._


	2. Chapter 2

_Ok, so the three main points of view are going to be Lydia, Faendal, and Ralof. I wanted to use a couple side characters so that there's a better view of the more important people._

Open Sea

Lydia

Lydia had been posted to the pirate flagship. If it had gone her way, she would have been with Tyr, Ralof, and Ulfric going by land to Cyrodil, but they told her to be on the boats. It wasn't that bad, she had a room with the other women on the boat, and they were nice. Helga the Nord, Keera the Argonian, and Penelope the Imperial were the three pirate women, with Ria the Companion and Uthgerd the Unbroken was there as well. She had also got to know the other people on this boat. The name of the captain she had met the day before was Talen; he was a Breton, and led the whole pirate navy. This boat, The Red Diamond, was his, and the Nord she saw before was in charge of The Warhammer. The Khajit, Shajirr, was the first mate on this boat, and the third-in-charge overall. Then there was the Orc, who the pirates all called Mo, who worked below decks. He was a very good shouter, and shouted about mostly everything. He yelled at the rowers, the cannon workers, the people getting things out of the storage, the people _not _getting things out of storage. Fortunately, she was mostly above decks, helping the pirate leaders navigate through Skyrim's waters.

"So you say that this area has been frozen over?" the captain asked.

"Yes, we had a very cold winter, and that bit of water hasn't thawed yet, you'll have to go around it," she replied, drawing a circle on the map with her finger.

"We'll need to communicate this to the other boats; hopefully they will just follow our lead." Talen walked outside to send a signal up, and Lydia followed. As he went to the launcher that could send up a signal, she went to see how Ria was faring. She had been feeling under the weather for a while, probably seasickness. While she was walking though, she heard someone call out.

"Ships sighted! Off starboard side!" She looked over the side, and saw what they were talking about. A boat was coming towards them, and very quickly. She instantly got into a position to defend the ship, as a loader for Faendal, who was on one of the ballistae. She knew on each side there were five ballistae, and seven cannons, so one boat could be easy to take down if they were enemies. She heard Mo belowdecks yelling at the cannon workers, and was happy she wasn't down there. She watched as a second ship came into view, and then heard the sentry yell again.

"Imperials, the lot of 'em! A supplier and a warship!"

"Starboard cannons ready!" Mo yelled from below.

"Alright, let's show the Imperials a taste of our power," Talen growled, "Fire starboard cannons!" A booming was heard as the cannons shot off, and the shots slammed into the Imperial ships.

Ralof

Ralof's squad was following an Imperial scout group when the dragon swooped down. Ralof knew dragons were still about, but didn't know that they would be this far into Cyrodil. The dragon swooped down and picked off one of the Imperials before they could do anything, so Ralof decided to pull back and let it handle the scouts. Unfortunately, as they ran through the trees, it noticed them, and sent some fireballs to kill them.

"Hit the deck!" Ralof yelled to the rest of his group. Most listened, but some kept running, and the fireballs exploded over them, sending them into the snow. Ralof turned his head to see it swooping down towards the Imperials again. "All right, let's get moving!" He managed to stand and take a few steps when he heard the dragon flapping its wings above him. He heard a branch crack and a yell.

"**YOL-TOOR-SHUL"** a blast of flame shot up at the dragon. He saw Tyr standing there with his group, who all fired at the dragon. Ralof watched as it fell to the ground, and began biting and snapping at the new threat. Tyr didn't waste any time, jumping up and swinging his axe at the dragon's head. He then followed up with a shield bash and power attack, before jumping on the monster's head and slamming the axe into its eye. After a few seconds of that, the dragon collapsed, and it began to burn as its soul was absorbed.

"Thank you for that, Dovahkiin. We wouldn't have pulled through if not for you," Ralof smiled at his old friend.

"We're lucky that you managed to get down towards us. We found the temple," Tyr beckoned. They walked a bit before finding the big gates to Cloud Ruler Temple. The original Blades used to live here, but after the Aldmeri Dominion took over, it had been turned into a Thalmor base. Their group met up with Esbern and Delphine, who were going to lead them through the temple. Once they got the gate open, they noticed how quiet it was. They expected to see opposition, but now, once inside, they saw nothing. They walked up the stairs towards the main doors, and then Esbern stopped them.

"Arrow trap, set up to a tripwire," Esbern pointed down. Ralof could barely make out the string, and saw that it was attached to a crossbow. Tyr put up his shield, while Delphine broke the rope. The arrow flew out and smashed into Tyr's shield, staggering the big man.

"Good thing we have you with us. I was about to step into that tripwire," Ralof shivered.

"The Thalmor didn't want us poking about it seems, good thing for us that I'm good with traps," Esbern smiled before inspecting the door.

"Yes, Esbern, you proved that when I had to find you in the Ratway. Those traps were very "fun" to deal with," Tyr gave an angry look to Esbern.

"Ah, yes, sorry about that. This door won't open, we'll have to use the Library or Barracks doors," Esbern pointed at the barracks doors. As they walked over, he stopped them again. "Hear that? There's someone coming! Everyone behind some cover!" Ralof crouched behind a pillar, and saw someone walk up through the main gates. It was an old man, with maybe twenty guards with him. He called out to them.

"It is okay, warriors! I'm not here to fight, although I can't say the same for the other counts!" the count of Bruma beckoned them out. Esbern went down to meet him, the rest stayed back. When Esbern came back, he had good news.

"The count says that Bruma agrees with us about the Empire's corruption, and that they will aid in its cleansing. It seems that they were waiting for someone to make sure this place was clear. Come, let's meet our new allies." Ralof smiled at that, and knew that Ulfric would be happy to hear this.


	3. Chapter 3

Lydia

The enemy boats were moving fast towards them, and the first wave of cannons had been fired. The orders were to destroy the warship, then board the supplier. She had been loading and lighting Faendal's ballista over and over as they pounded the warship with fire and bomb arrows. She heard more yelling from the leaders.

"Port cannons stern to bow fire! Port ballistae fire off chains!" the captain was yelling over the boom of cannon fire and the crackling of flame. The enemy ship was starting to pitch and turn as it was being broken to pieces by the many cannons that they fired at it.

"Is the chain in?" Faendal asked.

"Yeah, let them have it!" Lydia got out of the way as Faendal fired the ballista's secondary firing mode. It shot out a chain with two weights on either side. It smashed into the enemy ship's secondary mast, and caused it to fall over.

"Good shot, you two! Get ready to board the second ship!" Talen pulled out his sword, which began to glow with heat. As they neared the other boat, people threw over some grappling hooks, and pulled the hulls together. Lydia pulled out her sword and leapt over the side into the other boat. The first Imperial, a scout, swung his sword at her head. She blocked that with her shield, and slashed him across the face, kicking him away. The next one was in heavy armor, and had a shield. Lydia shield-bashed him and then stabbed at his side. He blocked that, but then was knocked away as the captain sliced him in the throat. Talen then went on to pull out his crossbow, aim it, and fire it into another one of the legionnaires with one hand. He put the crossbow away before stabbing at another one of the soldiers.

"More coming up from below!" Lydia pointed at the hatch, where twenty soldiers had just crawled out, and onto the deck. Talen cursed, and held out a hand. Lydia heard a fizzle, before an explosion of energy shot out of his hand. The lightning bolt struck the first couple legionnaires and knocked them down. By the way they were still; she could tell that it had killed them. _Of course, he's a Breton. Naturally he knows magic. _Lydia slashed at another scout before running up to who looked to be the enemy captain. He wasn't in legion armor; he had a fur coat on with a hood. He looked to be a Dunmer, and she saw him pull out a scimitar. She ran up, slashing at his throat. He dodged that, and then swung his scimitar up towards her face. She blocked that with her shield, and countered with another slash.

"Nice try, rebel. But you won't win this," the man smiled, before engulfing himself with flame. Lydia had seen the Ancestor's Wrath ability Dunmer can call upon before, so she knew how to fight it. She slammed her shield into his stomach, and slashed at his sword arm. He grabbed her with flaming arms, causing her to call out and fall back. She had fallen down, and he was about to stab down into her when the captain blasted him with another bolt. He staggered, but the fire blocked the main amount of the energy.

"Surprise, blue-skin," Talen leapt forward with his sword aimed at the elf's head. The elf dodged, but it still sliced into his shoulder, and the dark elf fell down. "Have fun in Oblivion." With a stab, the elf was silenced. Talen helped Lydia to her feet, healing her with magic.

"Thank you," Lydia groaned. The burns still hurt, but he had taken away some of the pain. She managed to get back to their boat, at the same time, the pirates were looting anything that could be of use on their boat. She helped bring some boxes below and pulled some bags over from the other boat. After they left, she got the honors of shooting the flaming arrow at the explosives they put on the boat, and watched it sink.

Cloud Ruler Temple

Ralof

Cloud Ruler Temple had been turned into a giant trap. Esbern and Delphine had found about twenty traps in the Library and Barracks, and then in the Armory they had to dismantle another three or four. Ralof had to dismantle two or three tripwires in the main hall, while Tyr broke the pressure pads. The town guard from Bruma helped as well, aiding in finding and stopping the traps. After the day was over, they had found and dismantled every trap they could find. This Temple was now their command base in Tamriel, and Ralof was proud of their work. Then next day, Ulfric arrived to set up the planning stations. He had talked to the count, and they decided to keep Bruma quiet about their supporting the rebellion. As they set up, Ralof talked to Galmar of what is going to happen next. Ralof had recently become a lieutenant of the Stormcloak army, so Galmar was the only one who was above him other than Ulfric and Tyr.

"So, what's the plan for our first attack?" Ralof asked as he set up his bedroll and pack.

"Ulfric wants us to be quiet for a couple days. We will plan and be ready for the next part. We will then send a group down to the city called Cheydinhal, and take it over. We do not attack the Imperial city until the rest of Cyrodil is under our control."

"And how long will that take?"

"Weeks, maybe months. The fleet will be getting to Anvil in about two weeks, so we will wait for them." Ralof nodded, before walking outside to see how well the outside preparations were going. They had some horses in the stables, a small catapult in the courtyard, a tanning rack, and a workbench. He saw a couple Stormcloaks heading out to hunt, and thought of how much like home this was. He thought of the fleet, and wondered if they were doing as well as the ground troops were.

_Ok, everyone. After this bit, there's going to be a time skip to about two to three weeks. The ground troops have now officially taken Cheydinhall and Bruma. The fleet is nearing Anvil, and are about to go in for the attack._


	4. Chapter 4

_So here we are learning of some of the pirates' backstory. A lot of talking, but no real action. If you want to skip, you won't miss any of the revolution._

Ocean near Anvil

Lydia

It had been weeks on The Red Diamond. Lydia was now just part of the crew, wearing mismatched armor, and even wearing war paint. Everyone on the boat knew her, and she was thought of as a lieutenant. She also understood a large amount of the lore of the pirates. A week or two ago, Talen had told her their story.

* * *

He had said, "My story is not expected from a pirate. I was raised in a rich Chorrol household, easily growing up to be a politician or a legion general. Our family was descended from the Hero of Kvatch, making us very important. I didn't like that life, so I left to find the Priory of the Nine. It had been lost after my ancestor, The Divine Crusader, died. It took me a year or two, but I found it. Using the ring that was passed down, I managed to get inside, and found the armor of my ancestor. Unfortunately, the divines wanted me to feel some sort of pain before I was ready. My eyes lost most of their color, turning gold. My arm was branded with the Red Diamond, the original Knights of the Nine symbol. I feel pain in that arm whenever I anger the divines, as a way of showing me the right path."

She had been amazed, "A pirate? Being a holy knight?"

"Yes, it seems odd. But they only allowed me the weakest of the relics, the sword. I thought it was the greatest, but they showed me it was otherwise."

"Wait, what about the rest of the pirates, they all have the tattoos."

"They tattoo the members who are sworn in with just the diamond, each of the markings around them, just as they are on me, symbolize a rank. Only I have the full design, but the rest copy parts of it. We've been jewels in the Divines' eyes ever since we began our fight against the Thalmor and the Legion."

"Wouldn't they hate you? You are pirates."

"Yes, but we only fight fights that are justified. Ulfric knew this, so he asked us to help him. Your Jarl, Vignar, did not know this. He thought we were just some random pirates. Still, the Divines have stopped shining on the legion, and began shining on us."

* * *

That was the conversation. She learned a lot from that. This made her want to join them, that and what they do on the boat. The pirates are family, Helga, Keera, and Penelope taught her that. They helped her with everything she needed. The rest were close, they knew each other by name, and this boat had almost a hundred people on it. They had fun times, singing and dancing at night. They told stories, and one of her favorites was Shajirr's story of why he joined.

* * *

He had been working as a sailor on a supply ship, when the pirates sailed next to them. The sailors on the supply ship knew that they were peaceful, so they began to talk and laugh for the short time that they tied each other's boats together. The reason Shajirr joined was that when they had a boxing match, Mo managed to take him down with a single punch. When he first joined, he had never known how to work a cannon, and hated that a kid, Talen was sixteen at the time, could possibly lead pirates. He learned fast that Talen was the best they had, and quickly became the first mate. The main reason he stayed was that he wanted to beat Mo in a fight, and has yet to succeed. He made a bet with Talen that when he beats Mo; he gets to be captain of a boat.

* * *

Lydia loved to laugh with them at stories like this, no longer a stranger in a foreign land. She also learned all about the fleet they had. There was The Red Diamond, The Warhammer, The Ebony, whose captain was a big redguard, two unnamed ships, and her favorite, The Old Horker. The Old Horker was led by a Bosmer, who she had never met. She felt at home on the boat, and was considering staying. She never worked as a housecarl anymore, and this was the kind of adventure she wanted. As she stood on the edge of the boat, running her hand over the scarlet paint on her face, she wondered how well she would do here. Helga was happy here, even married to another one of the pirates, and Keera was always happy on the boat. But then she thought of home, of Whiterun, a place she would barely get to visit. It was landlocked, no ocean for them to come in on. They could visit places like Riften, or Windhelm, even Solitude, but her real home would be far away.

"Thinking of home, huh?" She jumped. Talen was standing next to her; she hadn't even heard him walk up.

"How could you tell?"

"That look into the horizon, all of us do it when thinking of our island we live on."

"What's on that island?"

"A town. The people that live there think of us as their protectors. Many have family there, Arrius is from it."

"You never told me his story."

"I'll tell it to you now, then. Arrius was on the island when I first landed there in this very boat. He always wanted adventure, being stuck on an island and all, so we let him aboard. He turned out to be a great pirate, and the best part was that we then had a harbor. As the fleet grew, he became my assistant, and we became the best of friends. He started the tattoo tradition. He has a brother and a sister on that island, and they are great people. That's him, but what are you thinking of?"

"Whiterun. If I stay on this boat, I might not see it for a long time, and that'll be hard."

"You're right with that. I haven't seen Chorrol since I left. Hardest thing to do for me."

"Is it worth it to join up? I'm in for life, but is it worth spending all of my time?"

" I would say yes, but that's me. I've not got a fair view, being the leader and all. It's up to you." With that, he walked off, and Lydia resorted to looking at the horizon again.

_In this, page breaks mean that it goes to a story being told. There's no Mo backstory really, so if you were wondering, I don't have anything for you. Pictures are going to be uploaded and linked to on my profile soon._


End file.
